


Dragon and Human

by HeartzKittens



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Centaurs, F/F, Gargoyles - Freeform, M/M, Mating Bond, Mermaids, Mermen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform, Slow Burn, dragon - Freeform, dragon!Alec/human!Magnus, sphinx, still the same sort of story but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-09-09 07:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8881513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartzKittens/pseuds/HeartzKittens
Summary: Magnus doesn't know what he's in for when he meets the mysterious librarian Alec while browsing the shelves in the library. He will be given something a human hasn't been able to obtain in hundreds of years: a dragon's true heart.





	1. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read please know that if you see this *** it means time has passed and the chapter is going onto a new part. If you see this --- it means the POV has changed, and if you see a paragraph or so of italics that means it's a flashback. Enjoy ~

The day started out as any other. Magnus woke up, dressed and made breakfast for himself. He also made sure to feed his cat, Chairman Meow and clean out his litter box. After a few minutes of watching the news he left for work promptly at 6:35 to ensure he arrived to work at exactly 7:15 each day. Magnus worked as a makeup artist and hairstylist for a modeling agency called, Downworld Models. He quite enjoyed this job and was very talented. One of his favorite models was Clary Fray, a young 18 year old trying to make a career. She always looked great in her outfits, but was very clumsy and couldn't maintain a straight face for too long without cracking a smile. Magnus liked that about her because she could always find joy in her work.

After work, Magnus went to the library to drop off and find new books. He loved perusing the shelves and finding a new story to read. Recently he had been reading more and more fantasy books about magic and dragons. He wasn't one for the simple 'the prince saves the damsel' stories, he loved the ones about dragons. Dragons always fascinated him, especially as a child. They were big, powerful, and mysterious. He really liked stories where the dragon wasn't the villain, so that another side of dragons could be shown. Of course he could only learn so much because dragons didn't exist. That was until he actually met one.

He was in the library looking for any new fantasy books he hadn't read yet when he saw it. It was big and had a golden spine with the word 'Draconem' written on it in fancy black lettering. Instantly he recognized this as the Latin word for dragon. He had to check it out. He grabbed the ladder attached to the bookcase and slid it over to where the book was. Then he climbed up, but realized the book was almost all the way at the top of the bookcase. He was already about 6 feet in the air, but he had to keep going if he wanted that book. So he kept climbing until he finally grabbed it and started descending the ladder, only to look down and almost lose his balance.

"Hey, you tryin' to kill yourself there?" said a low voice from below. He looked down again to see who it was, but as soon as he did he started losing his balance again.

"Don't look down or you'll fall, just keep putting one foot down onto the next rung and the next. Look forward and focus on coming down."

Magnus did what the man said and eventually came down from the ladder. When he got back to the ground, he turned to see a tall man staring down at him.

"So, did you get what you were looking for? What were you climbing 7 feet in the air to get anyways?"

"I was trying get a book about dragons and I found this." Magnus said, showing him the book. The man looked as though he had been struck, but his expression quickly returned to nonchalance.

"Dragons? You like dragons?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah I do, is liking dragons bad?"

"Not at all, if you want I can show you some pretty accur-good books about them."

Magnus then realized the man was wearing a shiny name tag with the name "Alec Lightwood" on it. He must work here, he thought.

"Yeah, that'd be great, Alexander." Magnus said with a smirk.

Alec raised an eyebrow, but said nothing gesturing for Magnus to follow. Alec led him through aisles upon aisles of books until they came to an isolated bunch of bookcases. There was a big sign in front of them with "Magical Creatures" written in big purple letters. The first bookcase was labeled "Fairies" and the second "Elves". Finally they got to the one labeled "Dragons".

"This is a special section of books created by my family, for people that like magical creatures. My sister put this all together so she does have some rules about the books. Really there's only one you need to abide by though: if you aren't trusted by her you can't check out these books, but I'll let you just this once. Just don't mess them up or she'll come after me and you. Anyways, if you need anymore rescues just holler and I'll come runnin'. Enjoy your dragons." he said waving goodbye and walking off.

"Well, maybe I'll have to check that book out sometime," Magnus grinned to himself, watching Alec walk back into the many shelves of books.


	2. Clary

After going through a quarter of the Dragons shelf, Magnus decided to explore the other shelves. He first went to the Fairy one, which was adorned with bright colored ribbons and flowers. The next was the Elves section that was covered in leaves, flowers and twigs, giving it a sylvan look. He went on and on through all of the different magical creatures until he found himself back to the Dragons section.

"Well I've been here for awhile so it'd be a waste of time to leave empty handed. I'll just grab a few."

***

The librarian's desk was set up in the middle of the library, in direct view of the door to look out for any thieves. Alec sat behind the desk reading what looked to be a hunters' magazine.

"So you like hunting?" Magnus asked, as he plunked his stack of books onto the desk.

"Not really hunting, just archery. It's...a hobby of mine." Alec said, then realized Magnus was waiting for something and then he noticed the books.

"Wow, eight books. You sure you can read them all before they're due in two weeks?" He asked.

"You'd be surprised, I'm a pretty fast reader."

"Well good luck, I hope to see those books back on time."

"Oh don't worry your pretty little head about that, I'll have these back before you know it. And maybe next time we can look at some more books." Magnus said in a flirty tone.

"Uh...yeah, I can show you some more stuff I guess." Alec said awkwardly.

"I'll be looking forward to it." And with a wink, Magnus picked up his books and strode happily out the door.

When Magnus came home he launched himself onto his bed, ready to sleep from the long day. Chairman Meow jumped up and curled up beside him on the bed.

"Hey Chairman." Magnus whispered into the cat's soft fur. Chairman purred and nestled closer into him. All of a sudden Magnus's phone began to ring and he slowly got up to get it. As soon as he picked up he heard a cheery Clary Fray yelling 'hello' into the phone. He ripped the phone away from his ear, and when there was silence again he put it back to his ear and greeted her.

"Hello biscuit, why are you screaming into the phone?"

"Oh...sorry. I'm stuck in my dorm and Stephanie and Korra are making a racket trying to decide where to go for dinner." She said speaking a little quieter now.

"Why're you stuck? Are they not letting you leave? You should call Simon, he could probably pick you up."

"They want me to have dinner with them and Korra said we're not leaving till we decide on food. And why can't you pick me up? Your car works right?"

"My car's fine, it's just that Chairman has fallen asleep next to me and if I leave the bed I'll wake him." Magnus mock sighed.

"Oh really? Using your cat to convince me won't work Magnus, I know you're just being lazy." Clary said. Then her phone pinged and a picture of Chairman sleeping on Magnus's bed popped up.

"Damn it Bane, Chairman's too cute! Why do you do this to me?" Magnus laughed and said, "Because biscuit, I know cute animals are your weakness."

"Okay yeah you're right. I guess I'll call Simon after all, I don't think he's doing anything tonight." she said.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it. Have a good night dear."

"You too Magnus. Goodnight." And with that Clary hung up.

Chairman eventually woke up so Magnus decided to watch some Netflix.

"Well it's 10:45 Chairman, what do you wanna watch? Stranger Things or Friends?"

Chairman looked up at him and flopped into his lap, ready to snooze again.

"Friends it is."


	3. Return to the Library

The next day Magnus awoke to Chairman licking his face and the tv playing old episodes of Friends. It was a Saturday so he didn’t have to go to work, and that meant Magnus could sleep in as long as he wanted. Just as he was about to fall back to sleep his phone vibrated from his nightstand. He rolled over to see what it was, only to be blinded by the extremely bright screen. He quickly turned the brightness all the way down and went into his messages to see the text. It was from Clary, she was asking if he’d mind going with her to the library to pick up some books. Magnus was about to decline when he realized the cute librarian from the day before might be there, so he decided to accept.

He quickly got dressed in a stylish dark purple button-up shirt and black designer pants. He also put on just a little purple eyeshadow and a hint of glitter. If he was going out, he was going out in style. On his way out he fed Chairman Meow and gave him lots of affection before pulling on his jacket and boots, and strolled out the door and down the steps to his apartment building’s entrance.

When he got outside Clary was waiting for him next to Simon’s van, hopping from foot to foot trying to keep her blood flowing. 

“It’s freezing out here! I hope they have the heater turned on in the library or I might just die. By the way, we’re taking Simon’s van because my car decided to not start today.” Clary said walking around to the drivers side. 

Magnus climbed into the passenger’s side and buckled up. “That’s fine with me, I’m just happy to go to the library.”

Clary raised a questioning eyebrow at him, urging him to explain.

“Well yesterday I was in the library looking for some more books on dragons and I met a guy named Alec that showed me a secret part of the library.”

“Mmmmm...Alec. That name sounds familiar for some reason, what’s his last name?” Clary asked, turning down the road to the library. 

“Lightwood.”

“Oh that’s Izzy’s older brother. He works with her at the library, the Lightwoods own it ya know?” Magnus noticed her eyes sparkle when she mentioned Izzy. 

“Izzy? She one of your college friends?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I met her in my Calculous class last semester. She’s really great.” Magnus knew she wasn’t telling him something, but decided to drop it for now as they pulled into the covered parking lot next to the library.

Eventually they were able to find a parking spot and walked over to the library. The library was a large cathedral-styled building with long pointed peaks made of marble and stone. The doors were like the doors to a castle, large and made of glossy mahogany with hand-crafted, iron door handles. It was his favorite building in Brooklyn. 

As they made their way inside, Magnus looked up at the big sign above the door that read Lightwood Library. Around the sign there were beautifully crafted depictions of dragons circling the letters, carved into the stone wall. He realized he never noticed them before, all the times he’d gone to the library he’d never seen them. Deciding to ignore his questions for the time being, he walked inside, and saw Alec sitting at the front desk talking to a little boy with familiar black hair. At the sound of the doors opening, Alec and the little boy looked up to see Magnus swagger in with Clary by his side. His eyes first went to Magnus, but then quickly fell on Clary, entirely unamused. 

“Little girl, what do you need today?” Alec asked lazily. 

“It’s not little girl, my name is Clary! And I need a few books for college.” 

“Mmm ok, I’ll grab Izzy she’ll know how to help you.” Alec said and squatted down to the little boy again and said, “can you do me a favor buddy? I need you to go find Drake for me and make sure he’s not getting into trouble. You know how he loves people.” The little boy nodded and went off to find this ‘Drake’, as Alec stood and walked off, disappearing behind a wall of books.

“Ugh, I hate that guy! He always gets on my nerves.” Clary huffed. 

“Why does he call you ‘little girl’?” Magnus asked.

“I don’t know, he just wants to infuriate me I guess. And I’m a bit younger than him...but that doesn’t mean he should call me that!” Clary exclaimed. 

Sensing an opportunity to learn more about the dark-haired librarian, Magnus asked,  
“How old is he? Is he a college student?” 

“I don’t know his exact age but I know he’s older than 21. He’s probably in his early to mid 20’s. As for college, Izzy told me he graduated last year from Columbia with a degree in animal biology. Apparently his parents wanted him to run the library while also being a doctor and carry on the family tradition, so he decided to be an animal doctor. So he has to work almost every night and off day from the library at the vet office. Actually, that probably explains why he’s grumpy all the time, I doubt he gets much free time or sleep.” Clary sighed.

Before Magnus could respond Alec returned followed by a beautiful tan woman with the same dark hair as Alec. He realized the little dark-haired boy must be Alec’s little brother, he wondered if the little Lightwood boy was just like him.

“Hey Clary, who is this?” The woman said, giving Magnus a dazzling smile.

“Oh this is Magnus, he’s a friend of my family. He’s helping me get some I need for my classes.” Clary said smiling at Izzy. 

“Well then hello, I’m Izzy Lightwood. Nice to meet you.” Izzy said holding out her hand to shake. 

“It’s an honor to meet you too. Clary has told me many things about you.” Magnus said taking her hand. When he shook it he noticed her hold on his hand was gentle, but firm. He could tell right away why Clary liked her. Magnus felt a pinch to his arm and looked to see Clary blushing while also giving him the stink eye. He chuckled, she was always so easy to tease. 

“Oh really? What kind of things? I’d love to know.” Izzy said, but before Magnus could reply Alec interrupted them.

“Alright enough trying to get information out of him Izzy, Clary needs to find her books.” 

“Ok ok, come on Clary let’s go find those books.” Izzy said, linking their arms and leading her into the many stacks of books. 

“Well, I guess it’s just us now Alexander.” Magnus said moving closer to him.

“Actually, I kinda need to pick up lunch for Izzy and Max. Would you...uh like to come with? I could use an extra pair of hands to carry everything.” Alec said a little awkwardly. 

“I’d love to. Where exactly are we going, I’ll have to let Clary know I’m leaving for a bit.” Magnus said, delighted Alec would invite him along.

“I always go to the Chinese place down the street, the Jade Wolf. They only have take-out so I’ll call ahead now and they should be ready by the time we get there.” Alec said pulling out his phone and dialing the take-out number. 

Magnus decided he’d just text Clary he was leaving, he didn’t want to get lost trying to find her in the ginormous library. 

After a minute or so of ordering he asked Magnus if he wanted anything, but he declined. He was still pretty full from breakfast that morning. But he knew Clary would be hungry so he told Alec what she would want. 

“Alright they said it’ll be ready in about 30 minutes. We should probably leave now so we don’t get too bogged down by the snow. Do you wanna walk or drive there?” 

“I think I’d like to walk if you don’t mind, I need to stretch my legs a bit.” Magnus said and walked outside into the cold winter weather of New York. He immediately regretted deciding to walk all the way to the restaurant, but maybe this was good. Maybe he could get to know the dark-haired librarian a little better.


	4. Trapped

By the time Magnus and Alec had come to the Jade Wolf, the snow was beginning to pile up along the streets. Clary had called a little bit ago that she was going to come and pick them up after they got the food so they wouldn't have to walk all the way back. Unfortunately her time management skills weren't the greatest so she still hadn't arrived when they left the restaurant. After a few minutes of awkward silence Magnus decided to start a conversation, in hopes they could get to know each other a little better. But Alec beat him to it.

“So, you uh like dragons. Is there some kind of sentimental reason or do you just think they're cool?” He asked putting his hands into his coat pockets. 

“I don't know to be honest. Ever since I was young I've like them. They're so big and strong and beautiful. I wish they were real so I could meet one. Huh, but that's never gonna happen. I think one of the things that really interests me is how misunderstood they are. In lots of books and movies dragons are depicted as scary and evil, but I don't think that's always the case. Wow, I'm talking as if they were real, misunderstood animals. Sorry, I think I’ve talked your ear off.” Magnus said, cracking a smile. 

“Ha, no it's fine. Dragons are pretty interesting. I bet my little brother would love to show you all his favorite dragon books.” Alec said smiling when he mentioned his brother. 

“I’d love that.” Magnus beamed. All of a sudden his phone starting ringing and he looked down to see it was Clary.

“Hey biscuit will you be here soon? We're pretty cold out here.” He could hear someone crying in the other line and realized it was Clary. 

“Biscuit is everything ok?” 

Eventually the sobs stopped and she responded. “There was an accident on the road and my mom was involved. Sh-she drove over an icy patch and lost control of her car and got hit by a semi. The hospital called and said she was in a coma. I don't know what to do Magnus, I'm so scared.” Clary sobbed.

“Here give me the phone.” Alec said taking the phone from Magnus.

“Clary this is Alec. Tell Izzy to drive you to the hospital, she'll stay with you until you need to go home ok? It'll be alright she'll take care of you. Don't worry about picking us up we’ll call a cab or something, just take a deep breath and talk to Izzy, you'll be just fine.” He said gently. After that Clary hung up and Alec handed back Magnus’ phone.

“That was amazing Alexander. How were you so calm?” Magnus asked. 

“Well I have to put people's pets down sometimes and it's always hard for them so I guess I'm good at calming people down? Huh that sounds weird.” Alec said scratching his neck nervously.

“It's not weird at all. We should probably find a can huh?” 

***

A short time later Alec and Magnus were back at the library and sat down to eat. 

“Thought you weren't hungry.” Alec smirked.

“Well I'm feeling a bit hungry now thanks to Jocelyn’s accident. I think food might keep my mind off of it.” Magnus said, unpacking Clary’s food and digging in.

By the time they were done eating it was dark and even more snowy outside. The library had closed an hour before they arrived and so the heater had turned off. Magnus knew if they didn't leave soon they'd freeze.

“Hey shouldn't we get going? It's getting pretty cold in here.” Magnus said, joining Alec at one of the tables covered in books. 

“Oh I'm alright, but you can go if you want. I'm just gonna clean up.” 

“No, I'll stay. I don't have anything else to do anyways. Might as well help out.” Magnus said grabbing a stack of books. 

“Where do these go?”

“If those are nonfictions they go on the nonfiction section. It's on the left wall, sixth shelf.” Alec said pointing towards the big stone wall on the left side of the building. It was very tall and was covered with dark blue paint. Above two of the aisles was the word ‘Nonfiction’ in big scrolling letters. That must be the spot so he hurried over to deposit the books. 

Eventually all the books out of place were back where they belonged and it was time to leave. They said goodbye and Magnus walked to the door and tried opening it when it wouldn't budge. The door wasn't locked so it should open, but as hard as he pushed it wouldn't open. He realized the snow might be blocking the door. He hoped this wasn't the only way out.

“Alec! The door won't open, I think the snow is blocking it.” He said still trying to open the door.

“Here let me try.” Alec said turning the handle with no avail. He then started pushing the door and eventually just bashing into it, but it still didn't open.

“I don't think it's gonna open. And there's no other exit.” Alec said sliding down the door to sit on the floor. 

“What about opening a window?” Magnus said, but then realized they were way too far off the ground to get to.

“It's getting colder and colder, what should we do?” He asked, sitting down next to Alec. 

Alec didn't say anything, seemingly deep in thought.

Hours went by and neither of them had said a thing, too cold to speak. Alec didn't seem very bothered by it though. Magnus on the other hand was freezing his ass off. He could even see his breath in the air. It also didn't help that one of the windows was open for some reason. Magnus wanted to kick the person who stupidly decided to open it, if he died here he’d haunt them forever. 

“Hey, you still alive?” Alec asked looking down at Magnus resting on his shoulder. 

Magnus opened his eyes, half asleep, and looked at him. He realized he had gorgeous hazel eyes. They were truly breathtaking and sparkled when he talked. f he was going to die, he’d at least like to kiss a beautiful thing like Alec. With that in mind Magnus reached up, took Alec’s face in his shivering hands and kissed him. The kiss wasn't anything special, only a few seconds of Magnus’ lips pressed to Alec’s. Then Magnus closed his eyes and fell back onto Alec’s shoulder, asleep once again. 

\---

Alec just sat there stunned. No one in his entire life had tried to kiss him and a guy he just met kissed him on their second meeting. Besides that, there was the other huge reason he was freaking out. A human kissing another human was one thing, but a human kissing a dragon? So many laws were broken and something extremely dangerous was formed. Even though Magnus knew lots about dragons, the information he had was only partially true. And all those books and movies left out one very important, very deadly fact. If one receives or gives a dragon a kiss they will be mates for life.


	5. Conflicting Feelings

After the human had fallen back asleep Alec decided to pick him up and take him to the back of the library to warm him up. He stretched and stood up, letting his wings spread out behind him in a flourish. To hell with concealing himself, the human had already unknowingly become his mate so he didn't really care if he saw his true form. 

Alec's wings were dark, like a starless sky. They were large and membranous, and dragged behind him as he walked. His tail was of the same color and easily picked Magnus' things up while he carried him into the back room. 

The room used to be an old storeroom from when the library was used as a home for one of the wealthy magnates of New York in the 1900s. Now it was used as a spare bedroom for any of the Lightwoods to use if they ever needed a place to stay. There was a bed in the corner with forest green covers and a small table beside it with a candle and a clock stuck on 8:45. Of course no one had used the room in ages so the clock had been broken and there were no matches to be found.

Alec decided just to light it himself and with one snap of his fingers the candle lit up, giving the room a soft glow. He set Magnus down on the bed and removed his shoes and big overcoat, and pulled the blankets over him. Pulling a chair up beside the bed he felt Magnus’ forehead to check his temperature and found it was still very low. He didn't really know what to do, he'd never dealt with a sick human before. He knew how to take care of an ill animal, but human bodies were different and required different treatments. He wished Izzy were there, she’d know exactly what to do. 

He needed to warm Magnus up and judging by his temperature, he needed to do it soon or he might perish. Alec could feel the mating bond grow more and more strained, he wondered if Magnus felt it too. So he got up from his chair and crawled into the bed next to the unconscious man. He instinctively wrapped his arms, wings, and tail around Magnus and increased his core body temperature to warm the human’s blue-tinged skin. Slowly, Magnus began to wake and snuggled closer to the warmth of Alec’s body. 

Alec sighed, now he could finally relax. The human was safe and all was well. Unfortunately this wasn't exactly the case when Izzy burst through the ceiling, hurdling through a portal and crashing to the floor. 

“Shhh! Izzy, he’s gonna wake up!” Alec whispered, still curled up with Magnus’ body. 

“Oh, haha sorry. Wait what's wrong with you? Something smells off.” Izzy walked over and sniffed Alec, and then her eyes widened.

“Alec, what the hell did you do?! Making a mating bond with a human, are you insane?! Mom will kill you!” Izzy exclaimed.

“Izzy calm down, it wasn't my fault he just leaned over and kissed me ok? I didn't really have time to react.” Alec huffed retracting himself from Magnus’ hold and standing up.

“Besides, he's not that bad. He seems different than most humans. He actually likes dragons." 

“Yeah the fictional ones. What happens when he finds out they're real? Is he gonna think they're so cool then?” Izzy questioned, now pacing the floor.

“Don’t talk to me about humans when you're ogling one 24/7. I see how you look at her, but you won't admit it because of our parents and they're customs.” Alec threw back.

“That's beside the point. You don't even love him. Neither of you will be happy this way.” 

“So you're saying I should just break our bond and punish both of us? I won't do that to him. I'm not gonna make him go though that pain. And maybe Magnus and I don't love each other, but we can damn well be friends since we're bound for life now. We’ll just have to work this out, maybe there's some loophole or something. But I'm not hurting him.”

“Ugh, fine! We can talk about this later. Let's just get you two out of here.”

Alec sighed again and nodded, and picked up the still asleep Magnus. He walked over to the portal on the ceiling where Izzy came in and burst from the ground in a great flapping of wings, and flew through the portal into his apartment with Izzy in tow.


	6. Waking Up

Alec and Izzy came hurdling through the portal in Alec's floor and landed smoothly on their feet next to the couch. Alec handed Magnus to Izzy while he fixed the couch to put the sleeping human on it. When he nodded to Izzy she set Magnus down and put one of Alec’s satin pillows behind his head. Alec grabbed a quilt with a large dragon and a dazzling castle embroidered on it, and layed it over Magnus. Izzy checked his forehead and found his temperature going back to its normal degree.

Turning to Alec, Izzy said “you know he can't stay here. If our parents find out you're harboring a human, and your mate no less, they'll alert the Clave. Then the other clans won't trust the Lightwood clan anymore. You know they don't trust humans. They'll kill him or use him for their own selfish gain.”

“He's not staying here for good Izzy, he needs help right now. Once he's better he can leave.”

“ _Can_ leave? You don't want him to leave do you? You're hoping he'll stay because you're mates.” Izzy shook her head, “you can't expect him to stay Alec. He's a human which means he probably has other more important people in his life. He might even already have someone he loves.” Izzy said, sitting down on the other couch across from Magnus.

“I know! But what am I supposed to do?! We're mates now and nothing will change that. Of course I want him to stay, but...if he does have someone else or doesn't want to be with me I'll just have to accept it. I won't force him to stay with me, but I won't give up on him either.”

Then they heard a noise and a large Doberman came running up to Alec. He was a beautiful dog with a glossy coat and shining, brave eyes. He looked powerful, but also kind and loving. His name was Drake and had been Alec’s dog for almost all his life.

_They met one rainy day on the street when Alec was heading home from elementary school. He had been walking passed an alley and heard a quiet yapping and decided to check it out. When he turned into the alley he saw a small cardboard box lying on its side tucked into the side of a dumpster. Alec quickly went to it and looked inside the box. In it he found a small fuzzy ball that he determined to be a puppy. The puppy wouldn't stop yapping until he picked it up and gave it a stern look. “Look, you're either going to be quite so I can take you home or I'm going to leave you out here to freeze.”_

_Immediately the puppy went silent, as if he understood what Alec had said. Then Alec smiled and wrapped the puppy up in his jacket and left the alley._

Drake trotted up to Alec and nuzzled his hand, ready for pets. Alec leaned down and scratched behind his ears and right under his muzzle where he liked it.

“Hey boy, miss me?” Alec smiled.

Suddenly they heard a groan and looked over to see Magnus waking up. Drake went to him first, jumping up onto the couch and shoving his nose into Magnus’ face.

“What-what is...oh hello there. Who is this?” He asked looking up at Alec and Izzy.

“Sorry that's Drake, he's very touchy.” Alec said snapping his fingers. Immediately Drake came to his side and sat down obediently.

“Oh that's alright, I don't mind.” Magnus smiled at the dog and scratched his head.

“So what exactly happened? I don't remember anything apart from sitting against the library door. Did I black out or something?”

“Well there was a storm and we couldn't get out of the library and you fell unconscious because of the cold. Then Izzy came and drove us here, to my apartment. You've been out for awhile now, we didn't know when you'd wake up.” Alec said, sitting down next to Izzy.  
He decided he’d tell the human later, no sense in overwhelming him right after he woke up from a near-death experience. Besides, he didn’t even know if Magnus would believe him.

“A storm? I guess that would make sense, it was snowing pretty hard yesterday. But how did we get out?”

“Well um…” Alec didn’t know how he’d explain that one. He couldn’t tell him they portaled into his apartment.

“Alec managed to push the door open. He’s pretty strong ya know.” Izzy interjected.

Magnus looked a little confused, but seemed to buy the story well enough. Alec knew he’d have to tell him eventually, he couldn’t keep his _mate_ in the dark forever. He already started to feel things through their bond, like Magnus’ pain and fear. The human would soon feel Alec’s emotions too, if he didn’t already.


	7. Alec and Jace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys just a warning in this chapter, drugs are mentioned, it doesn't really go into any detail but if you feel uncomfortable I would advise skipping this chapter (even though it does give some backstory). Thank you.

After talking with Izzy and Alec about what happened, Magnus was feeling pretty hungry.  As if he could read his mind, Alec stood up and said he was going to make some food.  Alec walked into the kitchen and put on a sky blue apron, Magnus couldn’t help but stare as he tied it around his waist.  Alec turned his head and gave him a confused look, to which Magnus simply winked at.  

“So, would you like a tour?” Magnus nodded and Izzy began showing him around Alec’s apartment.  They walked around looking at all of Alec’s decorations and came upon the hallway leading to the bedrooms.  On the walls were pictures of what Magnus presumed as the Lightwood family.  Izzy was looking at one photo in particular, she had a sad and nostalgic look on her face.  The picture was of a younger Alec and another guy in graduation robes.  He was blonde and a little shorter than Alec, and they were standing side by side smiling.  

“Alec was so happy then.  That was his high school graduation, he was so excited to start college and see the world.  The guy next to him is Jace, they were best friends-practically brothers.  They did everything together, especially sports-you’d never see them apart.  Until Jace started getting into drugs.  I think it started because of his family, he didn’t exactly have the best home life. The drugs consumed him, Alec tried everything to bring Jace back but nothing worked.  Eventually Alec had to give up, and they haven’t talked since.  I probably should have let Alec tell you this but if you are going to get into any sort of relationship with my brother, you need to know some things.  Alec isn’t always the nicest person and it’s hard for him to make friends, my point is I think he might be the way he is because of Jace.  He used to be happy and smiling all the time and he had lots of people, especially girls wanting to talk to him.  But he never let it get to his head, he was grounded and a bright person.  Now, if you make him feel put off he immediately dislikes you and won’t trust you.  I just wish I had my old brother back, I mean he’s still there, but it’s not the same ya know?”  

“Yeah, I feel that way with some of my friends sometimes.  Going through something like that can make people change, and become something we never thought they’d be.  The best we can do is support them and try to understand.  And as for Alec and I getting into a relationship, I don’t know what the future holds for us.  We’ll just have to see.” Magnus said and Izzy smiled, a genuinely happy smile.   

Before Magnus could say anything more,  Alec yelled that the food was ready.  Izzy walked out of the hall first and grabbed Magnus, dragging him towards the kitchen.  They both sat down on the bar stools and Alec set two plates of sizzling bacon and eggs in front of them.  Drake waltzed in and looked at Alec expectantly until he finally reached down and handed the doberman a piece of juicy bacon.  Immediately the dog scarfed it up and went to lay down in his bed in the corner.  The food looked so good, Magnus didn’t hesitate to dig in.  

“You know, I could have cooked.  I know how tired you were when we got here, I wouldn’t of had a problem doing it.”  Izzy said, taking a sip of her orange juice.

“I would’ve, but it’s not always safe to eat your food.” Alec smirked.  Izzy just gave him the stink eye and kept eating.  

When they were done eating, Izzy volunteered to drive Magnus home because he needed to get some more rest and he didn’t exactly have a car to go home in.

***

Back at his apartment, Magnus was exhausted.  As soon as he walked in the door Chairman Meow was at his feet tripping him left and right for attention.  Finally he gave in and leaned down to scratch behind his ears and rub his tummy.  Then he plugged in his phone that had died and saw 13 texts and five calls from Clary. So he decided to call her, but that was a mistake. As soon as she picked up the phone she was sobbing and he couldn’t make out what she was saying.  All he could do was try to console her and after an hour or so on the phone she hung up.  After all of that Magnus decided just to sleep for the rest of the day, god knew he needed it. 

Hours later Magnus awoke to his alarm going off for work.  He really wished he could just have the day off, but alas the models needed him.  So he got up, ate breakfast and went to work.  The day went well, except for one of the models falling and breaking their thumb. He also had been having these weird feelings all day.  They didn’t feel like his own and frankly he was wondering if the cold had done more to him than he thought. Thankfully his boss pitied him for what happened the day before and let him leave early.  Normally he would be going to the library if he got to leave early, but from what happened he didn’t want to deal with that place just yet, even if he could see that cute librarian again.   So he decided he’d go home and just relax, unbeknownst to him however was a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows.   



	8. The Mark

A few days after the whole library incident Magnus started to feel like he was going insane because of all of the strange emotions he was feeling.  They still felt like they weren’t his own.  Of course that didn’t make sense, how could he feel someone else’s emotions?  A week later a peculiar tattoo appeared on his right hand.  It looked like the Dragon’s Eye symbol, a triangle pointing downwards with a “Y” shaped line connecting the points of the triangle.  He knew it only as a protection symbol, but whatever it meant, he had no idea how it had gotten on his hand.  He’d never gotten a tattoo and wasn’t planning on getting one anytime soon, so he didn’t think he got it while drunk, besides he hadn’t gone to any bars or drank any booze very much in the past week.  He’d also never get one on top of his hand for everyone to see; something was very wrong here.   Magnus wondered if he should ask someone he saw recently about it, they might know what happened.  Of course the only person he’d been around was Alec and he didn’t really want to deal with that just yet.  So he decided to talk to the next best person, Izzy.

This created another problem because the only place he knew he might find her was the library, where Alec also worked.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to see Alec, after all he was pretty cute.

\---

“The mark’s appeared hasn’t it?  That’s why you keep covering your left hand.” Izzy said. 

Alec nodded, pulling up his sleeve and revealing the Dragon’s Eye on top of his hand.  It was a beautiful mark, revered by all dragons and seen as the most powerful mating mark.  For each mating bond there is a different mark for the pair.  The marks appear when they wish to, making them almost sentient, and have drove some mates crazy waiting for their appearance.  All dragons can have only one mate, and the markings deter other dragons from trying to start a bond with one that has already been bonded.  With this mark, mates are forever joined through feeling and thought, however bonds can be broken but only through a ritual simply called the Break.  The Break destroys the bond and the mark, leaving the previous mates with an empty void that they will never fill.  Their memories of each other vanish, and they return to their lives as if nothing ever happened.  Ones who go through the Break cannot have another mate and are subject to wander forever searching for someone that will never come.

“By now Magnus’ mark will have appeared too, hopefully he hasn’t noticed.”

“Uh it’s on his hand I think he’ll notice.  Besides what does it matter?  I think you two will be a good match, and I approve so you should totally go for it.”  Izzy said putting a few books away.

“That doesn’t mean mom approves and I haven’t even seen Magnus in the past few days, maybe he doesn’t like me anymore because I almost got him killed.” Alec said looking down at his hands.

“Believe me he still likes you, I’ve got a sense for these things.  And the whole storm thing wasn’t your fault, you couldn’t have portaled out if you wanted to, only females have that power.” Izzy smirked.

“Yeah, and how does that work?  Males can’t portal and females can, what if I got into a really bad situation?” Alec huffed.

“Well you could always call me, but you're too stubborn for that.  And females can portal because we are the hunters, remember?  You really didn’t pay attention when mom was explaining portraying did you?”

“Well no, there’s no use in me listening to instructions on something I can’t exactly do!”  

“Wow testy, you’re mating bond is really making you moody isn’t it?  Should I call Magnus and tell him his mate needs his company?” Izzy teased and sat down on Alec’s desk. 

Alec went to respond but as if on queue Magnus walked in and made a beeline for them.

“Hey um Izzy could I have a word in private?” he asked.

Izzy nodded and led him away to the secluded Magical Creatures section.  As Alec watched them walk off he wondered how soon he’d have to tell Magnus about their bond.  His thought was cut off by a familiar face walking through the door: Jace.

\---

Once Izzy and Magnus got to the Magical Creatures section Izzy was quite nervous.  She hoped he was just having a question about Alec but she knew better.  It was obvious he had something to ask about the mark on his hand, he wouldn’t stop looking at it.

“So I wanted to ask if you knew how I got this tattoo.  I don’t remember getting it and I just saw Alec with the same one so I want to know what you know.  Did you get me drunk and take me to a tattoo parlour?  Did you do it yourself while I was sleeping?  What the hell happened?!” Magnus exclaimed.

Izzy didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t tell him the truth, but she couldn’t keep lying to him either. 

“Well actually it’s sort of a long story, but before I tell you, you have to promise you won’t get scared and run.  What I’m going to tell you is very important and you need to listen closely and if you try to run bad things are gonna happen ok?”

“Uh ok?” Magnus said looking extremely confused.

Suddenly they heard a loud banging and glass breaking coming from the front of the library.  Izzy smelled the air cautiously and smelled a scent that was all too familiar.  Jace was back.  Immediately she bolted for the front and came upon Alec and Jace attacking each other.  They were both in their dragon forms, punching and kicking each other like lunatics.

“What the hell are you two doing?!” Izzy yelled racing over to break them up.  Before she could move, two arrows flew into the floor in front of her, barely missing her feet.  She looked up to see four other dragons surrounding them with massive crossbows aimed at her and Alec.  Jace and Alec kept fighting and eventually Magnus came up beside Izzy to see the crazy display.  Alec immediately stopped fighting and turned to look at Izzy and Magnus.  His eyes widened and he gave her a look of horror.   Magnus had seen their world.  



	9. The Truth

Magnus was stunned. What he saw in front of him made him completely speechless and absolutely mystified. There, standing in front of him were six winged people. Four of them had crossbows pointed right at him and Izzy, but what scared him the most was the threatening blonde man fighting Alec. Alec himself wasn't scary exactly, just very ethereal and mysterious. The other "man" on the other hand was scaring Magnus, not because of his looks but of what he had in his hand. It was a large sort of sword, with light coming from the blade that was covered in strange markings. It was quite menacing in the hands of whom he realized was Jace, that was swinging it at Alec, seemingly trying to stab him. Magnus looked to lzzy for an explanation, but she only stared at him with worry in her eyes. 

"Why are you doing this Jace?" Izzy asked, taking a step around the arrows. 

"He's not in his right mind lzzy, get back!" Alec exclaimed turning back just in time to intercept Jace's next swing. Alec parried and then jumped off to the left to evade the next blow. He came back around and hit Jace in the shoulder sending him backwards. 

"You need to get Magnus out of here, he's not safe. Go now while he's distracted." Alec gave Izzy a look and suddenly a glowing, pulsing circle appeared. It looked like all those portals he read about in books and saw in movies. Izzy grabbed his arm and shoved him towards and with one look back at Alec she pushed them both through.

***

Magnus awoke to the most comfortable bed he'd ever slept on. It was huge and had extremely soft sheets, complete with a pillow that was neither too firm or too soft. It was splendid, he almost didn't want to leave it, but he knew he had to figure out what happened and where exactly he was. The last thing Magnus remembered was blaring lights and feeling really nauseous, then darkness. 

He looked around the room and found he was in a very large bedroom. The walls and ceiling were covered in the night sky. It was beautiful, who ever painted it was an amazing artist. The room was dark, but the stars in the sky glowed with glow-in-the-dark paint making it even more realistic. 

"Do you like it? My mom painted it for big bro when he was younger." Magnus jumped at the sudden break in the silence and turned to see a small boy peeking in from a door in front of the bed. In the minimal lighting he couldn't quite make out what the boy looked like, but his voice was familiar. 

"Um hello, who are you?"

"We've met before, at the library. I'm Alec's brother, Max. And you're Magnus Bane, my brother's boyfriend. You didn't answer the question, do you like it?" he asked pointing to the ceiling. 

"Oh, yes it's very nice. Your mother must be quite the artist. And I'm not his boyfriend. we're just friends.

"No, not really. She's all about business. She did this because Alec always had nightmares Whenever she would comfort him, they'd sit by the window and look out at the night sky. That always made him feel better, so she made him a night sky to look at all the time." Max said coming in and sitting on the bed next to Magnus.

"So wait, is this Alec's room?" 

"His old room, we're in the Lightwood mansion.”

"Ma-mansion? What on Earth happened while I was out?”  Magnus exclaimed.

Suddenly a loud crash rang out, immediately Magnus was on his feet rushing towards the noise. He flung the door open and ran out into Izzy sprinting down a long staircase to what looked like a foyer. He decided to follow her. and found himself looking at what once was probably a doorway in its place was a ginormous, charred hole.  It seemed fresh from the edges still giving off smoke. Then he looked down and saw one of the worst sites in his life. Alec, laying in a pool of blood, covered with cuts and bruises. 

Immediately Magnus knelt down beside him, taking his hand, Izzy came over to Alecs other side and turned him over onto his back. There was a deep gash in his abdomen that was spewing blood everywhere. 

Magnus didn't know what to do. He'd never dealt with this kind of injury before, sure a few broken bones and small cuts, but never something this bad. He could die, he realized, Alec could die. He had to do something, so he ripped out his phone and went to call 911 when an arm came out and grabbed him. He looked to see lzzy shake her head and take the phone from his hands.

"What are you doing?! We have to call for an ambulance, he's dying!” Magnus exclaimed, reaching to get his phone back. 

"No, we can’t involve mundanes. They won't be able to help him anyway, he's been stabbed by a seraph blade. They were used in the old Age to fight on enemy clans, now they are forbidden. They are very harmful for dragons, one slice could severely wound or even kill one of us.” 

"Dragons? What are you talking about? You and Alec are dragons?” Magnus couldn't comprehend what he was hearing, let alone what he was seeing.  Not only was Alec gushing blood, but there were two giant wings jutting out from his back and a tail curled into his leg.  He was a dragon, a real elegant wingèd beast. They weren't at all like the ones he read about or saw in movies, they were so much more complex.

“There's no time to discuss the details, yes we're dragons. The whole Lightwood family is made up of dragons, now if we don't move fast Alec will die. Give me your hand." Izzy said, reaching for his hand with the tattoo. 

“I need you to hold his hand and focus on his heartbeat. We need to keep it steady while I cauterize the wound. The pain may send him into a coma, so you need to keep him awake, dragons die easily in comas so you cannot let his heart rate falter.  Do you understand?” 

"Yes, I think, but why me? How am supposed to regulate his heartbeat? I don't have powers or anything like that." 

"We will talk later, all you need to know right now is that you and my brother are mates and you're probably the only thing that can really keep him alive right now, so take his hand!" 

Magnus burst into action, not even dealing with her mention of mates. He'd deal with that later. Magnus grabbed Alec's hand and focused on his heartbeat. It was slow and slowing down fast. He thought about it going faster, about it matching his, but nothing happened. Maybe it was the wrong hand? As soon as he touched Alec’s other hand he knew it was right. He had the same strange tattoo Magnus had, and when he tried matching his pulse with his own, it began to glow. He felt Alec's body jolt and then settle back down, his heartbeat was steadying. Then he smelled burning flesh, and looked to see Izzy cauterizing the two halves of the wound together.  Alec started convulsing and Magnus held onto his hand tighter, willing him to stop. 

Finally after what felt like hours, Izzy finished cauterizing the wound and bandaged it up. Thankfully Alec hadn't gone into a coma, just fell asleep. His pulse was back to normal and everything seemed to be alright, but Magnus still wanted answers. What was going on? What did their matching tattoos mean? And what did lzzy mean by "mates"?


	10. The Aftermath

Alec woke to the horrid, yet familiar smell of something burning. He scanned the room for any danger but came up short. Then he realized why the smell was so familiar, his sister was cooking. _Oh god, why do problems always arise when I’m not around?_  Alec tried to get up but was immediately shoved back down by an invisible force.

“Not so fast big brother,” Izzy called. “You might have woken up but you’re still badly wounded, that cut won’t heal fully for days so I suggest not moving about. And if you try running from my food, you’ll never escape, I’ve covered the entrances with border runes.”

“Females and there smorgasbord of powers.” Alec huffed, nestling back into the couch.

He realized he was back in his apartment. All he remembered was Jace coming into the library and asking about some mysterious jem, and then he attacked. They were fighting and then Izzy and Magnus. Where was Magnus? The mark on his hand was still dark so he couldn’t be dead.

“How long have I mean out?”

“About 3 days now, I think.” Izzy said.

“If you’re wondering where your cute little mate went, he’s in the other room with Drake. He seems quite fond of your human.”

“Does he know? About everything?” Alec asked.

“He knows we’re dragons...and that you’re mates. the rest you'll have to tell him yourself.” Izzy said, taking what looked like a burnt chicken out of the oven.

“Magnus! Alec’s awake!” she hollered, but he was already there standing in the doorway to the living room.

“Yeah, I uh...felt it.” He said taking a tentative step into the room.

Magnus was a mess. His clothing was terribly wrinkled and there were sparkles from his eyeshadow and smeared black eyeliner all around his eyes. But his hair...his hair was beautiful. It’s usual neat, but boisterous manner was gone and replaced by an adorable ruffled mess.

“Hey.” Alec said, trying to sit up again. This time he successfully sat up and ran his hand through his hair, it was horribly messy.

Izzy came in from the kitchen and placed two mugs of coffee in front of them.

“I didn't know how you liked your coffee so I just made it the way Alec likes it.”

Alec took a sip, for being terrible in the kitchen, Izzy made a mean cup of coffee.

“It's fine.” Magnus said picking up the mug and blowing on it.

No one spoke for what felt like hours until Izzy broke the silence.

“I know this is a lot to take in and it's not exactly an easy life to get used to, but I wanted to say thank you. You saved Alec’s life and maybe you don't want to be apart of all of this, but you'll always be welcome in the Lightwood clan. You saved one of our own and we will always owe you a life debt.”

Then Izzy gave Magnus a soft smile and patted Alec on the shoulder and stood up, walking towards the door.

“I'm going to the store to buy you some groceries because you apparently have none. I'll be back in a few.”

And with that she was gone and the tense silence returned to the room. _Well, thanks for leaving me to clear everything up sis._

Alec looked at Magnus for a long minute, thinking about how to approach the whole “dragon” thing and just went with the blunt truth.

“So uh, I guess I'll start off with saying thank you for saving me. If you hadn't been there I would've died so...thank you. As for what my family and I are, we're dragons. Not exactly like the ones in your books but it's sort of the same mentality. We can't become all big and scaly like the dragons of old, but we've adapted to blend in to human society. We live in clans, which are basically like a pack or herd. But these clans only include your blood relatives and mates, absolutely no outsiders.”

Seeing Magnus’ eyes sort of glaze over with disbelief, Alec asked if he had any questions.

“Well it's just a lot to take in I guess. Dragons being real and me being your mate is a bit, overwhelming to say the least.”

“I'm really sorry, about you being my mate. I should have been more aware and stopped you from doing something you would ultimately...regret.”

“Alec, I don’t regret kissing you. I really enjoy your company and truth be told, knowing you’re a dragon is actually pretty amazing. Maybe kissing you was a bit...fast, but I haven't felt how I feel with you, for anyone for a long time. You’ve unlocked something in me.”

Alec just sat there stupefied. No one had ever thought of his lineage as anything more than scary, muchless thought it was amazing.

Giving a sort of dejected look Magnus said, “I should be going, it’s getting pretty late. I’ll see you later okay?”

“You don’t have to go, we could sit and have dinner if you’d like. Besides we haven’t really discussed anything.” Alec said.

“No it’s alright, I need to get back to my cat. He gets fussy if I don’t feed him on time. Maybe next time?” Magnus said getting up and walking towards the door.

“Uh yeah, just come by the library when you’d like to go.”

With a nod Magnus exited the small apartment and strode out into the cold night air.

Once Alec couldn’t sense him in the building, he went into his room to find Drake perched on his bed looking at him inquisitively.

“Hey boy, I heard you hung out with Magnus for a bit. Was it fun?” He asked sitting on his bed next to Drake and stroking his head.

The dog just shoved his face into Alec’s lap and sighed. Suddenly his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was Izzy. She must be still shopping, she must be asking if I need anything.

He picked up the phone to a very serious Izzy.

“Has Magnus left yet?”

“Yeah actually he just left, why?”

A curse was heard on the other line and then, “Magnus is to be stay at the Lightwood manor until further instruction is given, by order of the clan.”

“What? Why? What does the clan want with Magnus?” Alec asked a bit worried.

“Because he is apparently in possession of one of the sacred stones.”

“Wait you mean Magnus, my mate, has one of the sacred stones of power?”

“Pretty much. The said you have 24 hours to retrieve him and the stone, if you don’t they will hunt him down until they find him. You need to go right now, or they could be severe consequences for you and Magnus.”

“Before you hang up though, there is something you need to know. Scouts have reported sightings of Jace near Magnus’ apartment. They think he’s after the stone. Be careful approaching his apartment, we don’t need another incident with him to happen again.”

Immediately Alec was on his feet and out the door followed by Drake. If he was going to find Magnus he needed more than just his heightened senses to do it.

***  
_God, “amazing”? Wow great choice of words there Magnus. Am I seriously talking to myself right now? I’m so pathetic._ Magnus thought, rounding the corner to his apartment building. As he climbed the stairs he kept trying to process all the things that happened in the past few days. Everything was so confusing and crazy. Dragons exist and he was even accidentally mated with one? It was insane, but strangely he wasn’t that scared. Sure it was all horribly confusing but even more so, it was the thrill of finding out something you had loved from childhood was actually real.

Entering his apartment Magnus immediately knew something was off. Chairman Meow was nowhere in site and it was eerily silent. Suddenly he heard cabinets squeaking open and banging shut. That was no cat, someone was in his apartment.

Magnus silently picked up the baseball bat next to the front door and crept towards the noise. As he got closer he found the sound coming from his bedroom. He snuck towards his bedroom door and cursed as a floorboard creeped under his weight.

Immediately the noise stopped, and Magnus decided he needed to be brave and just rip the door open. So he took hold of the handle and yanked hard and thrust the door open. Inside he found Jace fingering his bookshelves.

“Whatever you're looking for, I don't think you'll be finding it in here so you should leave before I call the cops.” Magnus said coming closer with the bat.

“Where is it? I need it, I must have it for my friend.”

“What are you talking about? And what friend?”

“You have it! The stone, the stone!” Jace yelled, tackling Magnus to the ground, making him drop his bat in the process.

Jace grabbed at him, searching for the “stone”. His bat now lost, Magnus tried to get Jace off of him, but to no avail.

“I will take you to him. He will know what to do.” Jace rasped.

Jace took out a knife and cut his palm, smearing the blood on the floor into some kind of symbol. Suddenly Magnus felt himself being pulled into the floor and with a bright light they were gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Origins

Clary awoke to the sound of incessant beeping.  She groggily looked around and found the source to be her alarm clock sitting on her nightstand.  She quickly ripped off the covers of her bed and dressed.  She made sure to apply concealer around her eyes so Luke wouldn’t be worried about her lack of sleep the past few weeks.

Her mother was still in a coma and it didn’t look like she was going to come out of it anytime soon.  Clary made sure to visit everyday incase she woke up, and brought her mom a new bouquet of flowers to brighten up her plain white hospital room.  She secretly hoped her mother might awaken from the smell of her favorite flowers, but she knew it was probably a lost cause.

Today she was meeting Luke at the hospital to visit her mother and then go out for lunch.  He had insisted they go to lunch because she needed to get away from the hospital and he apparently wanted to talk about something important related to her mother that they needed to discuss. So Clary grabbed her purse and headed downstairs to the entrance of the dorms and left the campus.  She stopped on the sidewalk to hail a cab and was then on her way to the hospital.

When she arrived, Clary found Luke already there holding her mother’s hand.  As she walked in he set it back down to rest beside Jocelyn’s body and turned towards Clary with a depressed look.

“Hey Clary.”  

“Hey. Any improvement?” she asked.

“Afraid not.  But she seems stable so I think she’s out of the danger zone at least.”  Luke said standing up and putting his hand on Clary’s shoulder.

“She’ll be alright.  Your mother is the strongest woman I know, she’ll pull through.”

“I know she will, it’s just...I feel so disconnected from her.  It’s like she’s not here, I don’t feel her presence anymore.  I don’t know, maybe I’m still reeling from the shock.”

“Don’t worry Clary, she’s here.  She always will be, you just have to hold on to that.  Now, let’s go to lunch, you’ve been looking way too pale lately.”

***

At the restaurant Luke and Clary sat in a little corner in the Jade Wolf and when they ordered their food, Luke made sure to add extra plates for Clary to take back to the dorms and eat.  

“On the phone you said you needed to talk to me about something important regarding my mother?  What exactly do you mean?” asked Clary.

“Well Clary, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Your mother, and me as well...aren’t exactly what you’d call normal people.  Before I tell you this you must promise to remain calm as I tell you, because what I’m going to tell you is very important and does have consequences.”

“I promise Luke, whatever it is I’m sure I can handle it.”

Luke sighed and seemed to be trying to piece together what he was going to say.

“Your mother and I knew you’d one day come asking questions about your true origins, but knowing you’d be put in danger, we created a serum to hide your scent and powers from the world.  I know this all sounds quite confusing but just hear me out.  The world we live in is divided in two, one being the human side which we call the Mundane World, and the other being the dragon side which we call the Immortal world.”

“Dragons immortals?!  You’ve got to be joking.” Clary exclaimed.

“It’s no joke Clary.  Dragons are real and have been coexisting alongside humans for centuries.  We were born and raised like humans, but hid our heritage.  In the Old Age dragons hated humans and many would form and build towns just so their offspring could live an ‘uncontaminated’ life.  After the war, coexistence was mandated in every clan, anyone who did not comply would be severely punished.  Your mother and I were on the side of non-coexistence.  We were foolish and blindly followed a dragon named Valentine.  He was my best friend, but I never knew what he’d become.  He’d go on rampages and slaughter whole towns of humans just for the satisfaction of killing.  Once your mother and I realized we couldn’t bring him back to sanity, we fled.  By that time your mother was already pregnant with you and thankfully Valentine never knew of your existence.” 

“Wait wait wait, so you’re saying there was this huge war between magical creatures and not a single person knows anything about it???”

“Well humans that have the Sight could have seen it, but if they did no one believed them.”

“Yeah I can see why.”  Clary paused and looked at Luke.  She wondered how he and her mother could keep this from her for so long. “So I’m this dragon thing, and my father is...an evil dragon, hellbent on destroying humans.  That’s just fantastic.” Clary said, sarcasm filling her voice.

“He _was_ hellbent on destroying humans, but he died in a flood before you were born.  Unfortunately his loyal followers are still out there wreaking havoc in the Immortal world.”

Luke was about to say something else when Clary’s phone started buzzing.  She looked at the caller ID and saw it was Simon.  As soon as it rang her phone went silent and seconds later a voicemail popped up.  Immediately she unlocked her phone and played it.  There was a lot of rustling and then one terrifying word, _help._   Clary shot out of her seat and slung her bag over her shoulder, turning to Luke she said,  “I’ve gotta go, Simon must be in trouble and I’ve gotta help him.”

“If Simon’s in trouble I’m coming with you, he didn’t sound good at all.”

“Alright, I don’t know where he is so can you use your dragon senses or whatever to find him?” Clary asked.

“Well sort of, I need something with his scent for it to really work.”

Clary remembered the scarf Simon let her borrow a few weeks back because she was cold, she never remembered to give it back to him.

“Try this, it’s been in my bag awhile but it does belong to him so it should still smell like him a little right?” Clary said and handed him the blue knitted scarf.  

Luke sniffed it, he looked quite odd sniffing a scarf outside a cafe in public.  But if it worked she would be able to find Simon, and that was all she cared about.

“I’ve got it.  He’s not too far from her, just a few blocks down I think.  Follow me.”  And with that Luke and Clary were off to find out what kind of danger Simon had fallen into.

  



	12. The Hunt Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven't been posting chapters lately. I've been having to deal with some personal stuff and with my cat apparently having cat herpes. Anyways, I should be back to regular updates now so look for a new chapter every week or so. Enjoy~

Jace and Magnus were launched through a portal into a dark room.  Magnus looked around to see white sheets covering pieces of furniture all around the room.  There was a thick layer of dust coating the floor and the only light source was behind a curtain to his left.  Before he could get to it, Jace grabbed him by the wrists and linked them together with ice cold shackles. 

“You’re not going anywhere mundane.” 

Jace pushed him toward a bookcase, where he pulled down a book and the bookcase began to slide out from the wall to reveal a doorway.  Inside Magnus could see a long staircase lined with torches.  Jace led him down farther and farther until the torches disappeared and they went on in the dark.  Eventually Magnus saw a light through a crack in a door and they stepped through to find an enormous room filled with all manner of weapons and what looked to be strange artifacts.  There was also cages holding grotesque creatures clawing at the bars.

“What... is this place?” Magnus asked.

“Nowhere you need to know about.  Keep moving.” Jace said as he shoved Magnus through the many cages until he came to a stop in front of a rather small, empty one.  

“Welcome to your new home, scum.” 

\---

Alec searched high and low for Magnus.  He went to the modeling agency Magnus worked at, but no one knew a thing.  He went to his apartment building, but the doorman hadn’t seen Magnus since the day before.   Izzy called and told Alec to head back to his apartment so they could discuss what happened.

“Before we go into what’s happened, I have some news from the Clave.  They’ve forbidden you from searching anymore for Magnus.  He’s become a wanted criminal and all Dragons are out looking for him, dead or alive.”  Izzy said, taking a seat on Alec’s couch.

“What?!  Magnus didn’t steal the stones, he doesn’t even know what they are.” Alec exclaimed angrily. 

“I know, but the Clave needs someone to blame and who better than the person that has conveniently gone missing.  You know they won’t stop until the stones are recovered, they’ll turn the whole Immortal world upside down to find them.”

“I won’t let them hurt him, he’s my mate.  I have to protect him, I…” Alec trailed off.  He looked over at Izzy and sighed, how did he get into this mess?  Why did his mate have to be a mundane, and why did that mundane have to make him feel so...he didn’t know the word.

Izzy took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently, “It’ll be okay Alec, I’ll find him and make sure he’s safe, I promise.  I won’t let the Clave harm him, he doesn’t deserve that pain and neither do you.”

“I can’t just sit here Izzy, what if he’s out there getting fed upon by the Merfolk?  Or getting chased by those greedy Gargoyles for the stones he doesn’t even have?!”  

Then they heard a little jingle and Izzy ripped her phone out of her pocket.  While she was talking to whoever had called, Alec got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to get a drink, God knew he needed one.  He went into one of the cabinets and pulled out a whisky and a shot glass and quickly downed a shot.  Immediately he felt just a little bit better.  He knew it was only a temporary fix though, if he wanted anything to really get better he’d need to get back out there and keep looking for his mate.  

Izzy called from the kitchen, “That was mom, they still haven't located him, but they know a place he might be, and you’re not gonna like it.”

“What do you mean, just tell me.”

“It’s the library, our library.  They think we might be hiding him there to keep the stones and their power for ourselves.  They’ve taken dad and Max down to the City of Bones to await trial.  The Clave doesn’t have mom yet, but she said they’re on her trail.  Mom says we need to get of here, out of New York, if we want a chance to not be arrested.”  Alec set down his glass and walked back into the livingroom. 

“We can’t just leave.  Magnus is out there and he has no idea they’re hunting him. I’m going back out to find him, whether the Clave likes it or not.”  Alec grabbed his jacket and headed for the door when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“If you’re going, I’m coming with you.  Magnus may not be my mate, but he’s my friend and I don’t want to see him hurt as much as you do.” 

Izzy then stepped to the side and with one glowing hand, created a portal.  “This will take us to the library, we can search from there.”  Alec only nodded and then they both stepped through the portal and into the many shelves of books that was the library.  

  
  
  
  
  



	13. Hotel Dumort

Luke led Clary to a tall building across town.  “Simon’s scent trail leads inside.  We’ll have to break in if we’re gonna get Simon back, I doubt the Merfolk would just leave their door open.”

“Merfolk?  They exist too?” Clary asked.

“Yes, along with Centaurs, Banshees, Elves and many more.  Pretty much every mythical creature isn’t actually mythical at all.  All those stories are true.” 

“That’s...amazing.  I never thought things as crazy as magical creatures could ever be real.  And to think, I’ve been part of this world my whole life and I never even knew.  What if mom never wakes up?  I’ll never be able to experience her world with her.” Clary sighed.  

“Don’t worry about her right now, what matters now is getting Simon back.”  Luke said walking around the building. 

“I’m going to find us an entrance that will be easy to escape back out of.  Stay here I’ll be right back.” Then he disappeared around the side and was gone.  

Walking around to the front of the building, Clary looked up to see a large glowing sign with one of the letters partially blacked out making it read ‘Hotel Dumort’.  Clary’s french wasn’t that good but she was pretty sure the sign didn’t say happiness and rainbows. 

Luke came back around and motioned for her to follow him to a small staircase, or rather fire escape that weaved from balcony to balcony and stopped at the roof of the hotel.  Then he started up the stairs, making sure to watch for potential threats.  As they climbed to the roof, Clary tried to take a peek inside through the windows, but saw nothing but black.   _ They must not want to be seen, or they hate sunlight _ she thought. 

Once they got to the roof they found a door leading inside, but it was locked.  They tried hitting the door, but to no avail.  Clary then had a sudden realization, if she was a dragon then she could melt the lock, right?  She closed her eyes and focused on heat, lots of heat, until she heard a pop and the door creaked open.  She opened her eyes and Luke smiled, “that was great Clary, you’re a natural just like your mother.”  As soon as those words left Luke’s mouth a loud siren began to sound, and a shuffling was heard from inside the doorway.

“Clary we’ve got to go, if they capture us they will kill us.”  Luke said, taking her hand and running back to the fire escape.

“What about Simon?  We can’t just leave him in there!” Clary exclaimed.

“Huh,” he sighed, “I would have thought you would do anything Luke said, but I guess you’re too stubborn to know when it’s over.”  Then he raised his hand and the door to the hotel slammed shut.

Clary took his hand, “Are you alright, you’re not making any sense.” 

“Oh I’m perfectly alright, it’s really too bad for your friend though.  He’s probably been devoured by now.”

“Luke you’re not making any sense.  You would never forsake Simon, who are you really?” Clary said, jerking out of his grip.

“What? You don’t recognize your own father?”  He smirked and then a tattoo appeared on his neck and he began to change.  His body went in and out of focus until he looked like a completely different person.

“Valentine.  Where’s Luke?”

He grinned, “oh he’s fine, just napping in the alley back there.  Now, what do you say we leave huh?  You’re little mundane friend is probably already dead anyway.”

“I’m not leaving without Simon!”  Clary exclaimed, shoving him and running towards the rooftop door.  Valentine quickly recovered and grabbed her, pulling her back.

“I’m afraid you will, you see I need you to help me out with a little project of mine so I’m going to be borrowing you for a bit.”  And with that he created a portal with the wave of his hand and they were gone.

\---

Raphael Santiago had gone through many things in his immortal life, but never had he longed to hear the sweet sound of silence until that stupid mundane was brought in.  Camille and a few others had come in with a short, brown-haired mundane boy and didn’t even bother to explain the situation before they handed the boy off to him and left.  And of course as a pesky mundane, he  _ would not shut up. _  He just kept going on and on asking questions and walking around the room touching everything.  If he picked up one more thing, Raphael was sure his immortality would leave him.   _ Mundanes _ , they were always such a hassle.  

Suddenly the boy threw a dagger at Raphael, hitting him right in the chest.  Raphael just stared at it, he couldn’t believe this tiny mundane had the audacity to throw something at him  _ in his own home. _

“Wow, I’m surprised a mundane would have such good accuracy, pity I’m immortal.” Raphael said, easily pulling out the dagger and tossing it aside.   

The mundane boy just looked at him, quivering and terrified.  Then he started rambling again, “why was I brought here and what are you?  Are you some sort of holy being?  Or a demon? Oh god, are you gonna sacrifice me?  I-I’m not good enough to sacrifice, I-I-” suddenly he froze.  Raphael raised an eyebrow and looked around to find Camille, eyes glowing, compulsing the boy.

“Oh thank god.  I thought my ears were going to burst.”  Camille only nodded and started walking towards the boy, sizing him up.  She went to stroke his face and Raphael cringed, Camille may have been his kin but he didn’t envy anyone she found amusing.  There was just something not right about her. 

“Why exactly have you brought in this mundane?  You know harming a human breaks the Accords.”  

“I’m not breaking them if I don’t physically hurt him.  Besides, he’s just one little mundie, he doesn’t really matter.”  Camille grinned, ruffling the boy’s hair. 

Raphael was disgusted.  He may not  _ love  _ mundanes, but he would never break the Accords just to harass one for pure enjoyment.  Even if Merfolk were seen as unholy creatures, he knew it wasn’t right. 

“Oh don’t give me that look Raphael, you know you want him.  He looks rather delicious doesn’t he, almost makes me want to take a bite out of him.”  

“If you didn’t bring him here to eat, then why is he here?” Merfolk hadn’t eaten humans in centuries, but that didn’t mean Camille wouldn’t hesitate to eat the boy, she was just that cruel.

Her tone changed, “I don’t have to tell you anything, you might be my second in command but you’re just a softy.  You hate it when we hurt mundies, but I guess that makes sense... since you were one.”  Then she grabbed the boy, dragging him off out the door.   Raphael could only hope she didn’t hurt him too badly.    

 


	14. Hotel Dumort (2)

“Do you sense him?” Izzy asked.  

“Yes, but it’s very faint.  I think he came here but left, probably just a few minutes before we arrived.”  Izzy looked over at her brother, never in her life had she seen him more worried than now.  She hoped she too would have a mate to care about as much as Alec cared for Magnus. 

“Well let’s just keep looking, he’s bound to still be close by.”  Izzy said, taking Alec’s arm.  “We’ll find him Alec, and when we do you better tell him how you feel.  I don’t want to see you lose him because you waited too long.” 

“I’m not going to wait, as soon as we find him I’ll tell him.  He might not want to be with me, but I want to give him a choice either way.”  

They walked out of the library and started down the street, towards the abandoned hotel on the corner.  Izzy knew Magnus wouldn’t go into the hotel, but if they were going to find him they needed the best trackers in the business.  And they just happened to be the most notorious backstabbers in the entire Immortal world: the Merfolk.  

\---

Raphael watched as Camille dragged the babbling mundane out of the room. He felt a pang in his chest once the mundane was gone. Wanting to get out of the hotel and regain his thoughts, Raphael changed clothes-he couldn't walk around with a hole in his shirt- and headed out to breath in the night air.

Raphael decided to walk to the harbor, he knew if he was close to the sea he would feel better.  He wished he could actually go for a swim to really clear his head, but Camille had put a curse on him to prevent him from escaping her clutches.  And of course she wouldn’t tell him how to break the curse, even if he dropped to his knees and begged for it to be lifted.  She was never one for revealing her secrets. 

The city seemed to glow at night, it reminded him of his childhood long ago. All Merfolk were children of the sea, but he didn’t exactly grow up like everyone else.  Raphael was born in a darker and very deep part of the sea, so deep that only some survived.  All Merfolk needed some amount of sunlight, or their scales would stay the color they were born with.  Because of this his scales were a dark gray, almost metallic-looking color. The darkness also gave him bioluminescence, which was considered a bad omen and greatly made him even more of an outcast among his kin.  He never liked his scales, they may have been a part of him, but he still secretly felt insecure whenever anyone saw them. 

\---

Simon was exhausted.  The dark-haired woman that had captured him was relentless.  As soon as she brought him into the dimly lit room she tied him to a chair, ripped open his shirt, and began to carve jagged lines into his chest with her long, dark fingernails.  Strangely, he felt no pain, just the pressure of her nails digging into his skin.  He knew something wasn’t right, he should have been feeling horrible pain, after all there was blood gushing from the wounds, but alas nothing.

“You know, you’re quite a cute mundane.  A little short, but that won’t be a problem once you get your tail.”  The woman grinned and cut into her palm with her razor-sharp nails.  Blood began dripping down her hand and she let some of it hit the strange symbol she had carved into his chest.  At first nothing happened, then the wounds began to glow and all of a sudden he felt them.  He felt the pain of what she had done, and something else.  Simon felt a sort of lightness in his heart, like something was being released from his body.  Eventually the glowing ceased and the pain really set in.  The lightness faded and all he felt was the urge to throw up.  The woman moved away just in time to avoid Simon violently throwing up all over her shoes.  

“Ugh, I still can’t believe you mundanes can actually produce such filth.”  The woman huffed, and yelled for someone to clean up his mess.  Immediately a man in a suit walked in with a mop and swiftly cleaned up his vomit.  All the while Simon kept apologizing, hoping he wouldn’t be punished too severely. 

“James, take this one to his room, and tell Raphael to return immediately.  I have a very special job for him.”  The way she said “special” made Simon even more afraid of what was to come.  

The one she called James ripped off Simon’s restraints and pulled him up.  Then he yanked him through the door and down a narrow staircase until he stopped at an ivory door.  James took out a key ring and flipped it around until he found the one he wanted and began unlocking the many locks on the door, alternating keys each time.  After about three minutes of unlocking the door, it finally creaked open to reveal a the most tidy room Simon had ever seen.  Everything had its own perfect place and there wasn’t even a speck of dust anywhere.  Besides the tremendous order of the room, it was also a thing of beauty.  Everywhere you looked there was some sort of beautifully crafted piece of furniture or elegant paintings.  Many of the paintings depicted dazzling seascapes and glimmering sunsets.  Simon was absolutely stunned that he would be staying in _this_ stunning room, even though he was a prisoner. 

“Alright quick gawking and get inside, I gotta go get Raphael.”  James said, and shoved Simon inside, immediately slamming the door.  Through the door he could hear all of the locks turning once again, locking him in his new “cell”.  


	15. Raphael

Alec was frantic.  It had been an entire day since Magnus had gone missing and he was starting to really fall apart.  He knew being separated from your mate was supposed to be painful, but he’d never felt such horrible despair before.  He just hoped the Merfolk knew something about what happened.  

Once they reached the hotel they looked up and down, trying to find some sort of entrance that wasn’t warded.  Unfortunately, they found absolutely nothing.  So they decided to do the one thing they never thought they’d ever do: knock on the door.

After about ten knocks and fifteen minutes of standing around anxiously, the door opened a crack to reveal part of a very annoyed-looking face.  

“What is it reptiles?”  The merman sneered, hissing slightly on the ‘s. 

Alec gave him a striking glare and was about to respond when Izzy stepped up and said, “We’re here to speak with Camille, we need her help in a very serious matter.  Could we please come in and talk with her?”  

“Sorry to disappoint you, but Lady Camille isn’t here at the moment.  Get your help someplace else.”  The merman quickly went to shut the door, but Izzy stuck her foot in the crack between the door so it wouldn’t close.  

“I’m sorry but we won’t take no for an answer.  Either you take us to Camille or whoever the hell is in charge right now or, we break down the door.  Your choice.”  Izzy grinned, her pearly-white fangs sharp as daggers.  

The merman gave them both a pointed stare and then swung the door open and ushered them inside.

\---

Raphael had just returned to the Hotel Dumort when James told him he would be watching over the little mundane boy.  Apparently his name was Simon,  _ what a boring name _ he thought. He was to take care of the him during his transformation and keep him within sight at all times, which included having him stay with Raphael in his room.  To sum up, he was a babysitter.   

James accompanied Raphael to his room to lock him in.  Camille had made sure he was locked up every night so he couldn't even try to break his curse.  Though James was nice enough to turn a blind eye once in awhile.

Once the door was unlocked, Raphael pushed it open to find the mundane boy sitting on his bed reading one of his prized books.  At the sound of the door opening, Simon hastily closed the book and straightened his back, trying to look calm but failing miserably.  Simon reminded Raphael of a shivering deer, so frightened and nervous.  He looked hilarious.  

“Mundane, this is Raphael.  He’ll be taking care of you from now on.  I’ll leave you to it then.” James said, and swiftly shut the door.  Raphael just stared at the boy, listening in silence to the sound of the locks clicking back into place.  After a moment, the merman yawned and decided to deal with the mundane when the morning came, whatever problems he was to deal with could wait until he had a good night's sleep.  Raphael stripped off his clothes until all that was left was his burgundy, silky, and incredibly tight, boxer briefs.  The boy just sat, eyes looking everywhere but Raphael, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.  Raphael grinned, when the boy blushed he looked kind of...cute.  He mentally chided himself, the boy was just a stupid mundane, one of Camille’s many pawns, he should _not_ be thinking he was cute.   

Finally he said, “You’re going to have to move or else I won’t be able to sleep.  Now could you  _ please _ get off of my bed?”  

“Uh-ah yeah, sorry…” Simon rambled as he scrambled off the bed.  Unfortunately in his haste, he ended up snagging the long comforter on his foot and he went tumbling to the floor, taking almost half the bed with him.   _ Living with this klutz is going to be such a pain, _ Raphael thought.  After a moment of waiting to see if the boy would have any other embarrassing mishaps, Raphael untangled Simon from the blankets’ hold and got into bed.

“Are you going to get into bed or would you like to sleep on the floor?” Simon just gave him a confused expression and looked as though he was going to start rambling again when Raphael stopped him and said, “There aren’t any other beds in this room other than this one, so you can either sleep here or on the floor.  And if you don’t choose in the next five seconds, you're sleeping on the floor.”

Immediately Simon was taking off his shoes and glasses and climbing into bed beside Raphael.  Making sure he was as far away from him as he could get.

“Uh go-goodnight Raphael.”

“Goodnight.”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
